A worldwide pandemic is actually the best possible time to jump on a plane, one Fox News host is claiming.

Fox & Friends' Ainsley Earhardt on Friday's show told viewers that amid the crisis sparked by the novel COVID-19 coronavirus, it's "actually the safest time to fly" because "terminals are pretty much dead" and planes are emptier. Co-host Steve Doocy didn't seem convinced, though, especially by that last point, noting that when he wife flew recently, "every seat on the plane was taken."

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed similar confidence in air travel on Friday morning, telling CNBC he'd be happy to "get on a commercial airline and fly to LA if I weren't working 24 hours a day."

But this comes as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, warns that Americans should only fly if they absolutely have to.

"I certainly wouldn't get on a plane for a pleasure trip," Fauci recently told CNN. "It would have to be something that was really urgent. My job is the public health. If it had to do with the public health and I needed to do something for the public health, I might do that because I'm quite healthy. However, if it was just for fun — no way I would do it." Brendan Morrow

Ainsley Earhardt: "It's actually the safest time to fly. Everyone I know that's flying right now, terminals are pretty much dead." (It is not the safest time to fly.) pic.twitter.com/a3BnajAbj5

As day 25 of the government shutdown was dawning, that seemed to be the biggest political story of the morning.

At 6:07 a.m., MSNBC was focused on how U.S. Coast Guard members weren't receiving a paycheck — the first time American service members weren't being paid in a government shutdown. CNN discussed a report suggesting the White House would double its estimate on how the shutdown will hurt GDP growth.

But Fox & Friends? It was talking about a migrant caravan, which just left Honduras yesterday with about 2,000 members.

The government partially shut down Dec. 21 amid President Trump's ongoing demand for $5.7 billion in border wall funding, which Democrats refuse to bend to. In a way, Fox & Friends' talking point somewhat tied to that aspect of the shutdown, as Trump used the previous migrant caravan as a fear-stoking argument for a wall.

Just like the migrant caravan that arrived late last year, the caravan will probably take more than a month to reach the U.S.-Mexico border. But unlike the previous caravan, many of these migrants say they will stop in Mexico and try to find work there. Even if they do make it to the border, these migrants will probably be stuck waiting for months and even years in Mexico as they try to make asylum claims in America. Kathryn Krawczyk

Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade said Thursday that under no circumstances should Trump seek to end the partial government shutdown by declaring a national emergency in order to get his proposed border wall funded without congressional approval, per Mediaite.

"It would be a disaster in the big picture and it would show us being inept and unable to govern around the world," Kilmeade said. "It would set a terrible precedent."

Kilmeade warned Republicans that if Trump declares a national emergency over the border wall, the next Democratic president could do the same thing for one of their core issues, such as combating climate change. "This would be a bad sign that the courts are forced to do something that politicians can't," he added.

But the hosts seemed to think there's a pretty good chance this is how things shake out, with Steve Doocy citing White House officials as saying this is "probably the option he's going to take." Watch the Fox & Friends segment below. Brendan Morrow